The final time Dot McCormick spoke to her tetraplegic son, she says he was planning a special meal for his soon-to-be killer.

Jurors have found Eric Neil Smail guilty of murdering his tetraplegic friend, whom he cared for part-time.

A man accused of killing an Auckland taxi driver is in custody in China, but the dead man's family may never see him face justice in NZ, a leading lawyer says.

A former prostitute, who was paid $2.5 million by ASB fraudster Stephen Versalko, was in the Auckland High Court this week to make a deal with the bank over the money.

John Skinner turned his back to the courtroom and gestured defiantly after being found guilty of murdering a police officer.

John Skinner, 38, and Iain Clegg, 36, denied murdering Sergeant Don Wilkinson and attempting to murder another police officer.

Two men accused of killing an undercover cop were fit, young men who decided to take the law into their own hands, a court hears.

A sexual abuse trial was aborted after a juror revealed he became aroused while listening to evidence from the alleged victims.

Herald reporter Derek Cheng spends a night in Unit 11 at Rimutaka Prison, the country's first unit built from old shipping containers.

Herald reporter Derek Cheng gets a first look at the container cells at Rimutaka Prison's new unit.